One of the finest players to ever play at WVU, Leland Byrd has achieved a great deal during his outstanding career as both a basketball player and athletic administrator. On the hardwood, the "Hammer" was praised by many as one of the finest left-handed cagers ever. During his four years as a regular while playing for Lee Patton, the Mountaineers posted records of 12-6, 24-3, 19-3 and 17-3 and three straight NIT berths. The 1945-46 team owns the distinction of being the first Mountaineer team to reach the 20-win mark.
The late Lee Patton was an outstanding WVU basketball coach from 1946-50. A Carbon, Texas, native, Patton led the Mountaineers to a 91-26 overall record during his tenure for a .778 winning percentage, still the second best in school history. Patton led West Virginia to two straight NIT berths in 1946 and 1947. Under his direction, WVU posted a school-record 57-game home winning streak that ended in the final home game of the 1949 season against Pitt.
WVU Basketball Team Plays its Last Game in Mountaineer Fieldhouse vs. Pitt
Date:
1970/03/03
Description:
'Pitt 92, West Virginia 87; March 3, 1970; The final game in historic Mountaineer Field House found West Virginia losing to Pitt, 92-87, but finishing a 42 year span with an overall record of 347-77 in the Beechurst Avenue barn. Two stars who played in the Field House when it first opened in 1928 were honored at halftime--Dr. Marshall (Little Sleepy) Glenn, former West Virginia athlete and coach, and Charley Hyatt, then All-American basketball star at Pitt. Athletic Director Robert N. (Red) Brown presented plaques to Hyatt, Glenn, T. Edward Davis (who coached Salem College in the first Field House game in 1928), and Mickey Furfari who accepted Walter L. (Bill) Hart, columnist and former editor and sports editor of the Morgantown Dominion News. A speech by Brown on Field House highlights was the feature of the special halftime ceremony.'
